{"id":9919,"date":"2019-02-25T19:27:57","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T13:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/weblizar.com\/blog\/?p=9919"},"modified":"2025-08-11T12:41:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T07:11:20","slug":"yes-you-can-go-wrong-with-user-generated-content-heres-how","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/weblizar.com\/blog\/yes-you-can-go-wrong-with-user-generated-content-heres-how\/","title":{"rendered":"Yes, You Can Go Wrong with User-Generated Content. Here\u2019s How"},"content":{"rendered":"

User-Generated Content<\/strong><\/h2>\n

For some brands, user-generated content is the holy grail of digital marketing<\/a>. UGC is hailed as a powerful\u00a0tool to drive customer engagement and get free publicity for a brand. But marketers should understand\u00a0that UGC is not fail-safe, particularly in the age of social media. There are so many things that can go\u00a0wrong with a USG campaign when marketers and brands are not careful. Here\u2019s is a list of several big\u00a0UGC mistakes marketers should be aware of and avoid:<\/p>\n

Disrespecting User Privacy<\/strong><\/h3>\n

User-generated content is willingly submitted to brands for marketing purposes. Companies assume\u00a0that consumers who participate in such campaigns understand this. However, even photos and videos\u00a0consensually handed over to businesses are protected by copyright law.<\/p>\n

Assume that a brand runs a Facebook<\/a> campaign asking followers to submit pictures of themselves with a\u00a0certain product. Most people would gladly do so. When the company ends up with hundreds or even\u00a0thousands of photos, don\u2019t assume that the content now belongs to the business. A user will not be\u00a0happy to see their selfie appear on any other media, such as a magazine.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s recommended that all brands launch USG campaigns with some type of privacy policy in place. Don\u2019t\u00a0republish or otherwise use any content a customer sends without their explicit consent. In the age of\u00a0major privacy concerns, marketers and their brands could face serious legal repercussions if UGC is\u00a0exploited.<\/p>\n

Not Moderating or Overseeing the Content<\/strong><\/h3>\n

UGC campaigns are run online, so marketers should expect the usual Internet chaos. All content\u00a0submitted must be moderated to avoid embarrassing situations. Consider, for example, the case of\u00a0Walkers, a British food brand. The company ran a USC campaign on Instagram asking followers to submit\u00a0selfies to win tickets to a big game.<\/p>\n

The problem with this campaign was not that it failed to take off, but that it was a bit too successful.\u00a0People were not shy to send their selfies. Unfortunately, for Walkers, people also started sending\u00a0pictures of dictators and serial killers. Walkers never moderated the content, so the offending material\u00a0was out there for all to see.<\/p>\n

The result was an obvious PR nightmare. Marketers should learn from Walkers and always assume that\u00a0some UGC would be highly offensive. There should be safeguards in place to prevent trolls and other\u00a0unsavory online characters from taking over your campaign. It\u2019s best to seek help from a social media\u00a0company consultant on how to moderate the content without trampling on free speech.<\/p>\n

Not Keeping the Comments Section Clean<\/strong><\/h3>\n

UGC naturally result in a comment, usually lots of them. Even if a particular UGC campaign doesn\u2019t go\u00a0viral, it\u2019s highly possible that spammers and trolls would begin to flood the comments section.\u00a0Marketers must have a process to remove comments that are unnecessary or offensive.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understandable that a brand doesn\u2019t want to appear like an overbearing parent shushing bad words.\u00a0The aim of comments moderation really is to keep spam and trolls off the conversation. Don\u2019t try to be\u00a0censorious and start deleting any negative comment. Allow free speech, and keep the malicious actors\u00a0out.<\/p>\n

Obviously Edited Content<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Some brands overreach when creating \u201cclean\u201d UGC on various online platforms<\/a>. If a moderator is\u00a0deleting organic content to promote marketing-friendly content, the internet audience would notice.\u00a0Content that is too pristine is just as bad as content that offends.<\/p>\n

At no point should your marketing<\/a> campaign appear inauthentic to users. Keep it real to drive interest\u00a0and engagement. Some light moderation would do to get rid of blatantly offensive material. However,\u00a0don\u2019t overreach and try to make an organic UGC campaign look more like a choreographed ad.<\/p>\n

Allowing Negative Reviews or Responses to Spread<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Even the best UGC campaign attract negative responses and reviews. Brands don\u2019t need to delete these.\u00a0However, the moderating markets should respond to negativity immediately before allowing such\u00a0content to go viral. It\u2019s important to preserve the brand image to attract more participants. Do that by\u00a0responding to negativity in a timely and effective manner.<\/p>\n

Marketers that run UGC campaigns should understand foremost that not all publicity is good publicity.\u00a0Don\u2019t let a campaign go off the rails because of a lack of moderation or commitment. Be aware of the\u00a0above mistakes and preserve the integrity of your UGC campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

User-Generated Content For some brands, user-generated content is the holy grail of digital marketing. UGC is hailed as a powerful\u00a0tool to drive customer engagement and get free publicity for a brand. But marketers should understand\u00a0that UGC is not fail-safe, particularly in the age of social media. There are so many things that can go\u00a0wrong with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1860],"tags":[1861],"class_list":["post-9919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-user-generated-content","tag-user-generated-content"],"yoast_head":"\nYes, You Can Go Wrong with User-Generated Content. 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